Angstrom

Uncommon card · No. 82902

The angstrom ( ANG-strəm, ONG-) is a unit of length equal to 10−10 m; that is, one ten-billionth of a metre, a hundred-millionth of a centimetre, 0.1 nanometre, or 100 picometres. The unit is named after the Swedish physicist Anders Jonas Ångström (1814–1874). It was originally spelled with Swedish letters, as Ångström and later as ångström. The unit's symbol is Å, which is a letter of the Swedish alphabet, regardless of how the unit is spelled. However, "A" or "A.U." (not to be confused with an astronomical unit, which has the same initials and therefore abbreviation) may be used in less formal contexts or typographically limited media. The angstrom is often used in the natural sciences and technology to express sizes of atoms, molecules, microscopic biological structures, and lengths of chemical bonds, arrangement of atoms in crystals, wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, and dimensions of integrated circuit parts. The atomic (covalent) radii of phosphorus, sulfur, and chlorine...

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